The Golden Compass

Last night we went to an advance screening of "The Golden Compass". It's based on the first of a trilogy of books and is an epic on the order of Chronicles of Narnia. I knew almost zero about the books, but I thought it was very, very good. So much so that I already downloaded the audiobook.

The highlights are the main polar bear character (voiced by Ian McKellan) and the cowboy character played by Sam Elliot. One thing I'll point out is that it's definitely not for little kids. While there isn't a drop of blood on screen, it is pretty violent and kinda dark in parts.

To go with this post I'm including the following questionnaire to ask in helping choose my daemon. In the Golden Compass, people's souls are outside their bodies in the form of animals called daemons. The movie website lets you answer some questions and picks an animal for you. Not sure this is me, but we'll see...



Here is Brenda's so far...



Edit 12/12/2009: Since I originally posted this, the studio site has apparently removed it. So much for things living forever on the web.

The Golden Compass

One Year In Atlanta

Today marks our one year anniversary in Atlanta. Exactly one year ago today, Murray was riding shotgun with me in a rental truck, bound for Georgia.

Honestly, it doesn't feel like it's been all that long. And there still hasn't been a single day I've regretted our decision to move. Yes, we do really miss friends and family. But with the phone, email, the blogs and regular trips back to Ohio, it's made it a lot easier to get used to.

Looking back on the year, I think we've accomplished (and learned) a lot, and I look forward to seeing what our future holds. We did already renew our apartment lease, but to be honest, the commute is getting longer and longer, and I'm not sure how much longer I want to spend 9 hours a week in the car. We're considering moving closer to town, but we've only begun talking about it. So we might still be here a while longer.

Not really sure yet what we'll do to mark the occasion. Maybe just dinner and a movie. Here's to another great year coming up!

UPDATE: So we ended up marking the day by redeeming a couple passes at the Midtown Art and saw "No Country For Old Men". Pretty good Coen Brothers movie, if not a bit a bit unexpected. Then we went over to Atlantic Station to see their big tree, and their scheduled nightly snow. The snow wasn't all that impressive, but I guess if you don't see it very often, it's still cool. The kids seemed to like it. Then we ate at the Cheesecake Bistro, which wasn't too bad.

Thanksgiving 2007

This year was our first Thanksgiving by ourselves since we've been together (10+ years). At first we were going to buy a prepared dinner from Publix or Kroger. But it was kinda pricey, and you still technically had to cook it. So Brenda figured what's the point, and decided to just cook our own.

So we ended up having enough food for probably six people, but the leftovers are worth it. The spread included a 5.5lb turkey breast, mashed potatoes and gravy, noodles, sweet potatoes, corn, stuffing and rolls. Brenda was nervous about the turkey, but it came out great, as I'd predicted.

Then, after a quick nap and a football game, we put up the tree and decorations. Only took a couple hours, compared to the entire day it used to take when we had a bigger house. Okay by me. Someday I'm sure we'll have a bigger place and do the Griswald thing again, but for now, I enjoy the simplicity.



Then it was pumpkin pie for me and cherry pie for Brenda, and watching the Falcons lose (again). All in all, a very good day, despite being away from family. But that'll just make coming home for Christmas even more special.

See some new photos here.

My First Football Game

Today I went to my first real football game (not counting the one high school game I'd ever gone too). My boss took me to the UGA (aka the Georgia Bulldogs) vs Kentucky game and it was pretty amazing.

Like the baseball game, you really don't get a sense of what it's like watching it on television. Our seats were right on the 50-yard-line, only 25 rows back, and the weather was darn near perfect. And best of all...we won! See some photos here.

Now I just need to get to a hockey game :)

Artwork Online

Just a quickie post that I've started a new 'Artwork' set on Flickr. Right now it's got the latest stuff, but might have some older pieces as I can find them. I'd also like to colorize Thundermutt #1 if I can ever find a copy. Most were ruined in the flood.

Fright Fest = Lame

So yesterday we finally made it back to Six Flags for their Fright Fest extravaganza. Our expectation was all built around our experience with Halloweekends at Cedar Point, where they had the entire park themed out for Halloween, and had at least 4-5 haunted attractions, some converted from existing rides. We figured Six Flags' Fright Fest would be the same, maybe even better. Wrong.

When we first got up to the front gates, there was some organ music playing, but absolutely no other theming at that point. Once we got in, the main area inside the gates had a really cool Fright Fest sign with skeletons and was really well done. There was also an animatronic organist and the fountain was dyed blood red. So far so good.

But once we started walking around, the theming was pretty spotty. A few tombstones here, some cobwebs there. But huge portions of the park had nothing. For instance, the entire Gotham City section had no indication it was even Halloween.

So then we made our way to the haunted house we'd seen on earlier visits, hoping this would redeem them. As we approached, I noticed the line only had like 10 people in it, which was odd, since the park was packed, and there were long lines for everything.

Then we noticed why. In front of the attraction, there was a ticket booth. They were charging TEN BUCKS a person for the haunted house!!! We just stood there in total shock. Keep in mind, that Cedar Point NEVER charged extra for their haunted houses.

So we didn't even go in. I figured I'd spent good money on a season pass, and a season PARKING pass to not be charged extra for something that should've been free.

So we ended up spending a grand total of an hour there and left feeling pretty disappointed. Note to Six Flags: send a couple people to Cedar Point's Halloweekends to see how it's really done.

Mom Comes To Atlanta

Last week, Mom and Parke came down for almost a week to visit. We did a ton of stuff and I think (hope) everyone had a great time. Our first day, we went over to Historic Norcross and had lunch at a cafe located in an old train station. And two trains passed right by it while we were there. Frankly, the best part of the cafe is the sign in the men's bathroom: "Do not put cigarette butts in the urinal. It makes them soggy and hard to light."

Then we walked around town a bit and went in a couple shops, like 'Taste of Britain', which is run by an actual British couple, and is filled with all kinds of stuff from the UK.

On Friday, we went north a bit to the Mall of Georgia. Honestly, it's a nice mall and everything, but with all the malls we have closer to us, there was nothing really spectacular about it. But they have a couple nice collectibles stores, and a Starbucks on every floor, so it's not all bad.

Then we went to a couple scrapbooking stores for mom, but not without several runarounds by our wonderful GPS. That little gadget is still probably one of the best investments ever, but sometimes I just want to chuck it through the windshield.

On Saturday, it was up to Duluth for some general running around. I was very happy I got to show off my favorite store, Fry's Electronics. Other stops were Jo-Ann Fabrics (fun) and a Christmas shop. Then back over closer to home for dinner at Macaroni Grill.

On Sunday, we went on a driving tour of Atlanta, starting with showing them my commute to work. Being Sunday, I was able to give them a tour of my offices. Then we went through Midtown and then over to downtown and parked in a garage to do some walking around. We walked around the inside of CNN Center, walked all the way around Centennial Olympic Park, and down around the Georgia Aquarium and World of Coca-Cola. All that stuff is packed within the same few blocks, which is also where Phillips Arena is located, for things like hockey games. I think the Georgia Dome is right around there someplace, but I didn't see it.

Then on the way back, we went via 400 so we could show them the Northpoint Mall in Alpharetta, which is closer to the apartment and has become our mall of choice.

On Monday, we went to the Atlanta Zoo. It rained that morning and was kind of cool, but it didn't rain at all while we were there. So being sort of overcast, and a Monday, we practically had the place to ourselves. And because it was cooler, almost every animal was out, as opposed to the summer when all they want to do is lay around. We finally got to see the baby panda, and that day was Dumati the orangutan's first birthday. We even got cake! Overall, we were pretty impressed with the zoo, and Brenda and I became members so we could go back as many times as we wanted for a year. Looking forward to doing more photography there, especially after I get a new lens for the Nikon.

So those are the highlights. I think everyone had a good time, and hopefully others will want to come down as well (Brenda's mom, I'm looking in your direction).

Grandpa's Garden

The other day I received an email from my Uncle John in Columbus. He'd sent me a pdf scan of an article in Garden Gate magazine all about my late grandpa, Wilbur D. Jones, Jr. I hadn't heard anything about it, but apparently it was something that had been in progress when grandpa died last fall. The article is really good and is all about how to make your gardens and landscaping more accessible for the handicapped.

Click here to download a printable pdf of the entire article (5mb).

Also, there will be another article coming out in a different magazine soon that grandpa actually wrote himself. I'll try to post that as well.

What's Happening To Me?

We're witnessing a very strange phenomenon since moving to Atlanta. I'm actually developing an interest in sports.

...I'll allow you some time to pick yourselves off the floor....

Better? Good. So before we came to Atlanta, I had almost zero interest in sports of any kind. I thought baseball was "okay", so much as I could actually understand it. Football was another matter. None of it made any sense. Pass interference? I thought that was the whole point? Knock that dude down.

But ever since my boss took us all to a Braves game, I've started to get more and more interested. So much so that I've been caught actually watching entire football games. Brenda was at first very worried, and wondered if maybe I had been snatched by aliens and my body replaced by some sort of pod person. I'm still not sure she's convinced otherwise.

I think this is all because I'd never lived someplace that had its own teams. Granted, I was in a state that had pro football and baseball teams. But they were hours away, so it's not quite the same as when your own town has baseball, football and hockey teams.

I'm definitely still learning as I go. So much of football still seems obtuse to me. Maybe I can find a 'Football for Dummies' book. But I'm getting the hang of it.

If you are doubting any of this, I actually know that a Falcons game starts today at 4:15. How bad is that?

Atlanta Falcons

Kelly and Gang on the Georgia Cyclone

A Much-Needed Update

Wow, it's been a really long time since my last update. There haven't really been any major happenings, which is why I think I've let it slide. So here are some highlights from the last couple months, such as they are.

Brenda's NYC Photos

Finally got Brenda's photos from her New York City trip developed. I'm still trying to get her to post something here, so maybe she can be convinced to write an update.

At any rate, here are her photos.

Six Flags Scouting

We just got back from our first visit to Six Flags Over Georgia. Luckily, we're so close to the park, we can decide to go pretty much on a whim. It was supposed to be a little cooler today, so after breakfast at iHop we decided to head over and check it out.

The drive takes anywhere from 30-45 minutes, depending on traffic, which is about how long it takes me to get to work. So if feels like just a hop, skip and a jump. That makes it nice because you don't have to feel like you've got to make this huge day out of it. So with a season pass, you can go whenever you feel like it and ride a few rides, eat a funnel cake and go home.

Today we didn't even ride anything, but the train. This was mostly a scouting expedition for when Kelly and Julie come down in a couple weeks. We wanted to already know how to get their and the basic layout of the park, which I think we accomplished.

But I tell ya, sweet merciful crap, it was HOT. I typed that in all-caps because there's not yet such a thing as super-caps. When we got back to the car at about 4:45, the thermometer said 97. Luckily, there are lots of areas with shade, but still. And don't think they don't capitalize on that. A bottle of water is $3.50 apiece, and we ended up buying four bottles.

My first impressions of the park are pretty good. Mind you, I compare everything to Cedar Point. The theming is the best part. They have Warner Brothers and DC Comics, which means you'll see character theming with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and all the Looney Toons Characters. Plus, Batman, Superman, The Flash and a lot of other DC Comics characters. I got my picture taken with Bugs Bunny and the Batmobile! Check out the photos!

The park seems pretty well laid out, but we just need to get acquainted with the map a little more. And there seems to be a good variety of rides, from what we've seen. I do like that most of their "thrill" rides don't try to be the tallest and fastest, a trend I've gotten sort of tired of with Cedar Point. Six Flags' rides just seem fun.

At any rate, this was just a dry run, and I hope to actually ride a bunch of stuff very soon.

Superman Ride

New Blog Is Up

Finally got my new blog up at atlantajones.com. Been wanting to do a blog of my own for quite some time. There's just a lot of stuff that wouldn't be the least bit interesting (or appropriate) here. So just a warning, not everything on the new blog will be completely "family friendly" :)

My Daily Commute

So I had a bunch of photos left on the disposable camera I used at the ball game and needed to get rid of 'em. So I decided to document my daily commute. So here are some shots following my daily route home every day.

Game Photos

Finally got my photos developed from our first Braves game. I was pretty impressed that Eckerd drug store was able to process the film an make a photo cd on the spot. Took ten minutes and cost three bucks!

I'd say they came out pretty well for being taken with a disposable camera.

Who Loves Ya Baby?

Tonight when I picked up the mail, I saw a letter from the Telly Awards (no, not as in 'Savalas'). The Telly Awards "honor the very best local, regional, and cable television commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions." They get over 13,000 entries yearly from filmmakers and agencies all over the country.

I'd never entered anything before, but this year, I decided to give it a shot. Today's letter confirmed I'd won a Bronze Telly for the documentary I did for the Colony Theatre! You actually have to order your statues, but they're made by the same company that makes the Oscars. Very cool.

Kinda makes me want to go make something else :)

Telly Award

Pirates 3

Smoke gets in your eyes

For the second or third time this week, the smoke from the southern Georgia wildfires has crept up to Atlanta. One day earlier this week, what looked like thick fog during my morning commute was really smoke. And this morning when I took Murray out, you could definitely smell it again. As I write this, all our windows are open and I can smell it throughout the apartment. Hopefully they'll get it under control soon.

Smoky Skies Over Atlanta

Yo ho, ho hum

Saw Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End last night. To put it bluntly, it sucked barnacles. It was a three-hour movie and about ten minutes into it, I knew it was going to be bad. It just dragged on forever and felt soooooo tedius. The plot just kept going round and round with deals and betrayals and, at least for me, I had a hard time following what was going on. It just seemed like a lot of things were just tacked on and could've easily been cut, or at least tightened up. And things like the much-anticipated cameo by Keith Richards as Capt. Jack's father were just squandered. As always the effects were phenomenal, but I still never felt all that engaged.

So the Pirates movies continue the downward trend, the last movie being enjoyable but still nowhere near the excitement of the first. I'm sure the film will do well, though, and there's already talk of a fourth. I'd only want them to do another one if it could somehow redeem this one.

So to sum up, Andrew and Brenda give Pirates 3 two thumbs waaaaaay down.

Update: See below for the 'Ask A Ninja' Ninja's review of Pirates 3:

Our First Braves Game!

Last night Brenda and I attended our very first Atlanta Braves game at Turner Field. My new boss treated employees and spouses to the game, plus food and drinks.

Traffic around the stadium was kinda nuts, but we eventually got into a decent lot and it was only a five minute walk or so to the stadium.

The inside of the stadium is just chock full of food and souvenir vendors. It's basically a giant hallway that wraps around the entire field, with aisle entrances to the seats every few yards.

As soon as we got in, we of course had to both buy Braves hats. And before we left, I got a t-shirt with 'Jones' on the back. I didn't, however, get a discount for being named Andrew Jones. The vendor informed me that even Andruw doesn't get a discount there. Bummer.

Once we got out to the field and our seats, the geek in me was more fascinated by the giant 100-foot high definition video screen. Just amazing. I heard it cost upwards of $15 million. There also is a really amazing digital display that wraps around three-quarters of the stadium and has stuff like sponsor logos, and all kinds of other stuff depending on what's going on.

If you've ever been to an actual baseball game, you know it's WAY different from seeing it on tv. It's such an interactive experience, with a lot of crowd participation, and always something to look at. Oh, and there's a ball game going on, too.

All in all, it was a lot of fun, and I'm sure we'll be back regularly.

PS: Yes, I did take photos, but all I had was a disposable camera. So I'll post them asap. Hopefully we'll get a decent, smaller digital camera for occasions like this.

Turner Field

New Pics from Mothers Day

Just uploaded some photos I took during our Mothers Day trip up to Ohio last weekend. Really not sure when the next one will be, but some of you are already planning trips down to Atlanta. Which is better anyways, as you'll be able to spend more time with us than if we came to Ohio and had to split our time between everyone.

Atlanta, Month Five

Haven't updated the blog in a while, so I took a few photos to show the progress of the apartment (or lack thereof).

Not really much to catch up on. Couple weeks ago I lost a day and a half to a cold. Haven't had one in like four years, and I'm famously known to brag about how "I don't get sick". Apparently, I do, just not very often.

It's pretty consistently warm weather these days. Been mid-seventies for the last week or two. Forecast is mid-eighties all next week. Pool was open again today. Hopefully I'll take a dip soon (and Brenda will read poolside).

My new job is going great. Working hard on a big project that should be done this coming week. We both have now filed for health insurance, so that's one less thing to worry about.

And in case you haven't heard, we're coming up for a visit May 11th - 14th. We're coming up with an itinerary so as to evenly split time between all families and friends. Going to be pretty hectic, but it's pretty important to us that we see everyone. Unfortunately, the stereo in my new car decided to quit working a couple weeks ago. Hopefully Carmax can get it in and fixed before the trip!

That's it for now. Going to try to post a couple back-dated entries for our first movie-going experiences down here.

And PS: I'm doing a new blog soon, AtlantaJones.com. :)

Yellow Snow

So down here we don't have to deal with the pollution from the plants, but we've recenty learned of a springtime phenomenon here in Atlanta....pollen. Apparently every spring we'll be getting treated to a nice dusting of this yellow crud on every possible surface. Keeping the cars clean has been a pretty futile exercise. We're even finding a fine layer on things inside the apartment.

Luckily, neither one of us have allergies, although Brenda has been a little more bothered by it than me. The upside is that it won't last but another week or so, and it won't normally be this bad. We went like two weeks without rain, so even the locals were saying it was worse than normal because of that.

At any rate, we're back to the seventies and low-eighties this week, so our weather should be fairly similar to Ohio, at least for a little while.

In other news, I've been super busy on a project at work that I can't really post here. But let's say it's a major company that you all know :) One of our developers is relocating to Florida, but will be working remotely. It's a bummer, but the upside is I get her office. Hopefully a trip to Ikea will follow to make it more homey.

The Final Four games are in Atlanta this weekend. So we're not planning on venturing out too far, as traffic will be a real drag. There are not only the games, but big concerts, a baseball game and a hockey game all going on this weekend. No way I'm getting close to downtown.

I'm also planning on learning the art of stop-motion animation (or at least giving it a shot). I've been doing a lot of research on it, and bought a book from the studio that does Wallace & Gromit. Don't know if I'll actually do much with it, but I hope to do some test shots soon to see if I have the patience to do it.

That's about it for now. Not much else going on. Work all day. Work in the evening. Watch some TV. Repeat.

Ninety Degrees In March?

It may actually happen today. Apparently the highest temp in Atlanta in March since 1926. We'll see. The rest of the week should be high seventies to low eighties, so still pretty pleasant spring weather here. Plus, our pool opened yesterday!

See ya, Rich

I was pretty shocked today to learn that Richard Jeni, one of my favorite comedians ever, committed suicide today. I just can hardly believe it, but in the industry, it seems the best and brightest sometimes burn out the quickest. They still haven't "officially" ruled it suicide, so a part of me kinda wonders if this is Phil Hartman all over again (ie, the girlfriend shot him).

Only time will tell. But either way, if you've never seen one of Richard Jeni's HBO shows, I urge you to find one any way you can and watch it ('Platypus Man' is my favorite). You'll thank me.

Richard Jeni

We Visit Titanic

We've been in Atlanta for almost three months now, and today we finally got to go to the Titanic Artifact Exhibition. It's being held at the Atlanta Civic Center until May. We've already missed two shows from waiting until the last minute, Cirque Du Soleil and Spamalot, so I'm really glad we got to see this.

When you get started, you're given your ticket, which is actually your "boarding pass". On the back is the name of a passenger aboard the Titanic. You learn their age, where they're from, who they are travelling with, what cabin they're in, their reason for being on the Titanic, and some interesting facts about them. You're told you're this passenger for the tour, and you'll find out at the end whether you survived. So not morbid at all.

My passenger's name was Mr. Emil Brandeis, who is 48 and travelling alone, having boarded the Titanic in Cherbourg, France. He is returning home after his annual four-month trip to Europe, where he visited his niece in Italy and his sister in Switzerland. He is from Omaha, Nebraska, owns a department store, and must be rather wealthy, as he is a first class passenger.

Brenda's passenger is Mrs. Maria Penasco from Spain, 22, who is travelling with her husband Victor and a servant. They also boarded at Cherbourg and are extending their two-year honeymoon with a transatlantic voyage on Titanic.

We then were given these nifty gadgets that looked like the combination of a long remote control and a telephone. Every so often, you'd punch in a code shown on the wall, hold it to your ear, and hear some narrated facts. Pretty cool.

The exhibit was very well done and put together. From an attraction standpoint, it was top-notch. There were a lot of really nice artifacts on display, some huge, some tiny. Everything was enclosed in one-inch-thick glass cases that all had humidity and temperature sensors in them. I can't imagine the difficulty in preserving pieces like those.

The thing that struck me the most is how hard it is to wrap your head around the fact that these are not replicas. What you're looking at was actually at the bottom of the cold, black North Atlantic, 12,500 feet down. Before these pieces were recovered, the last people to touch them were passengers or crew on the Titanic, who may or may not have survived. It's pretty eerie.

A highlight of the tour is "the big piece", which is a 17-ton portion of the ship's hull, complete with 3 portholes. What's interesting is they show you a diagram of the ship and where the piece was located. When seeing it in that scale, you start to get an idea just how gigantic the Titanic was. It's also interesting that it took over two years to prepare and preserve the Big Piece for display.

The also have a big iceberg mockup, actually made of ice. They have you feel it so you can actually get a feeling for how unbelievably cold the water was that night. I can't even imagine the feeling.

I could go on and on, but long story short, it was well worth it. And unfortunately, Mr. Brandeis, my passenger, did not survive. Brenda's did, however, but her husband did not. It's an interesting and effective way to make the whole thing a little more real.

At any rate, if any of y'all make it down before May, we'll gladly take you to see it if you want :)

We Picked A Good Winter

...to head down south. Just uploaded some photos Mom sent of about an inch of ice on the trees up there. Jason also posted some pics of ice damage in Cincinnati. Boy, I don't miss that kind of thing at all. Snow's pretty and everything, but I hated shovelling it and hated driving in it even more.

It's back to being in the low-thirties in the morning and mid-forties in the afternoon here. But last week we had a couple days in the high sixties, so you can never tell.

What Does Burned Kitty Fur Smell Like?

If you were here last night, you'd have found out. Picture it. Salem casually walking past the fireplace. Suddenly, its thermostat kicks on and the flame ignites.

Salem jumps away, startled, but is strangely intrigued. What is this glowing thing? It feels so warm and cozy and I can't look away. Maybe I'll get a little closer. Hmm, that chain thing is open just enough for a paw to fit through. I'll just reach on in and......SWEETMERCIFULCRAP!!!

Long story short, Salem got babied for a while and the place smelled funny for a couple hours. No harm done.

Stupid cat.

One of the Best Mac Ads Ever

One of the latest Mac ads is absolutely brilliant, and hysterical. It's poking fun at Windows Vista, but if you've used Windows XP for any amount of time, it will still sound familiar.

Funniest Super Bowl Ad

This was by far the funniest ad of the night:

MurrayCam

MurrayCam Is Online

Okay, if this isn't the ultimate in geekery, I don't know what is. The other day I bought a network webcam for like forty bucks on Woot. I figured, what the heck. But what to do with this new gadget?

The obvious (at least to me) answer was...the MurrayCam. Now I, or anyone else, can look in on Murray during daylight hours and see what she's up to (or not up to, as is usually the case).

As usual, Brenda hates this new piece of gadgetry and will most likely cover it up any time she enters the sun room. Let's all help her feel okay about this :)

Minor bugs aside, I'll try to keep the cam running and see where this goes.

My New Office

Just thought I'd post a few pics of where I'm working now. Cool Blue is located in what's known as "Midtown" Atlanta, which is just north of downtown (I still don't know where one stops and the other begins). I've not really explored much yet, but I drive through this neat shopping/residential area called Atlantic Station. It has a lot of stores including Ikea, a theatre, Publix grocery and a Target is coming soon. But more importantly than all that....a Starbucks is coming soon! I can't wait.

I Gotta Vibe

I got my new car today! It's a 2006 Pontiac Vibe. I'd really been wanting a Toyota Matrix, but the Vibe is essentially the same car. And Consumer Reports rated them both really high. It's a gray "wagon", but without the fake wood paneling. It looks nice outside, but the interior, specifically the dash is really high-tech looking.

The gauges are all completely digital, and really bright. I just think that's the bomb. I also got excited to see it showed the outside temperature. Hey, I've never had that before. Another cool feature is the dual power ports. One is a traditional cigarette lighter style, and one is a 115v AC outlet that you could plug a laptop or something into. And speaking of laptops, the passenger seat folds forward flat, and you can use its back as a tabletop work area.

The back seat is surprisingly roomy, Even with the driver's seat in my normal driving position, I can sit in the back seat without my knees even touching the back of the seat. The cargo area is decent, but both backseats fold down for more storage.

There's also lots of little things that excite me. Stuff like the headlights knowing when to go on and off, the automatic daytime running lights, fog lights, the doors lock when you put it into gear, etc.

Oh, and the radio is pretty cool. Apparently, radio stations can broadcast artist and song data in their signal. I had no idea. This radio can pick that up, if it's there. Obviously it's unlikely the stations in the Mid-Ohio Valley have this, but the station we listen to down here, daveFM, does. Kinda sucks the stereo doesn't have an auxiliary jack for my iPod like the van, but oh well.

Ah, the minivan. Boy, I'm going to miss that thing. Good times. Brenda always hated it, but it's been a great car and served us well. Carmax is giving us $1,200 for it, which is great. I just can't sell it to them until I get a new title to replace the one Murray took a bite out of (long story).

At any rate, we now both have reliable, safe vehicles. You all can sleep at night now :)

Zoom, zoom.

With Brenda's new job, we had to get another car quick. Really quick. So yesterday we went to a GIANT car lot called Carmax and got a 2005 Ford Focus. It's a great little car for a pretty decent price. And just to be safe, we did buy the additional 3-year warranty which covers us for nearly anything.

We still can't get over having such a new car. When I bought the minivan in 1999 it was already six years old!

Next step is to trade the van and get me something newer (and smaller). Fortunately, the van is still doing fine, so I can take my time finding what I want. I still really want a Toyota Matrix, but when Carmax gets them, they fly off the lot.

Working Girl

Good news! Brenda got a new job today! As I mentioned earlier, she had a callback from the treatment center here in Norcross. She basically just sat down and they offered her the job.

So to sum all this up, a year-and-a-half looking for a job in Marietta. Five weeks in Atlanta. What a shock.

So needless to say, with both of us having "real" jobs now, the car search just went into high gear. Hopefully by this weekend we can visit some dealers.

And by the way, my first day at Cool Blue went rather well. I even spent a few hours doing real work. Hopefully they'll be okay with me posting some pics of the offices.

More Job Type News

Potentially good news, Brenda is going back for a second interview with the treatment center here in Norcross. They apparently already hired someone, but they've gotten permission to hire one more, and they wanted Brenda to come back. Let's all keep our fingers crossed.

Oh, and by the way, I'm starting my new job on Monday! After a lot of gut-wrenching debate and weighing all the pros and cons, I decided to accept the job offer from Cool Blue Interactive. Many thanks to everyone that's been supportive and given me much-needed advice in the last couple weeks. I really believe this is a great move for us and will really get me off to a good start in the Atlanta market.

As for FireBox Studios, it's not going away. The main focus will be to finish all ongoing jobs as soon as possible. It's going to be a lot of evening work, but it's got to be done. And after that, I'll still do some freelance work, but I'll be able to pick and choose. Or not do any at all, who knows.

Now let's see how well I adjust to getting up early every day :)

My New Favorite Restaurant

Last night Brenda and I went out to return a pair of slippers to Kohls. That's all. That one simple task turned into trips to Kohls, Petsmart and CompUSA. We both got new coats at Kohls, which pretty much wrapped up the last of our Christmas cash. I also finally found a decent wireless usb adapter at CompUSA for my powerbook.

So after all that, we figured we'd grab a bite, and there is a Dave & Busters right across from Kohls (where there is also a Hobby Lobby, Super Target, Circuit City, Costco and some other stuff). I knew nothing of Dave and Busters, other than it was a restaurant. That's an understatement.

Remember the good ole days of Showbiz Pizza? Big animatronic singing gorillas, pizzas and video games? Well imagine that times ten...only with a bar.

First, the place is HUGE. And it's divided into several distinct areas like a billiard room, bar, dining room, party room and a giant arcade "midway". This is the coolest arcade I've been to in a long time. Maybe ever. Half of it is skill games like skeeball and basketball throws. The other half are regular video games. And not crappy ones, either. Some really cool stuff.

We both ordered meal combos that each came with a $10 game card. With it, you get the equivalent of 48 tokens. You just walk up to a game and swipe the card, and it will tell you your remaining balance. How cool is that? Brenda got in a lot of skeeball time, and I made the rounds on the video games. By the time we ran out of credit, we'd been there like two hours.

Oh, and the food was really good too. Definitely going back soon, and will gladly take anyone that wants to come down for a visit :)

Dave and Busters

Star Wars in the Rose Parade

Star Wars floats in yesterday's Rose Parade. I can't believe Star Wars is having its 30th anniversary. I remember seeing it for the first time at a drive-in in 1977 in the pouring rain. Good times :)